fa«: EU«#F£ ^ N. 2. FROM THE LAND OF DANTE and GALILEO BY Rev. Cav. SAVERIO FERA t«i ■ a—( SECRETARY OF THE ITALIAN EVANGELICAL CHURCH. FLORENCE, PRINTED BY G. BARBERA. 1897 FROM THE LAND OF DANTE AND GALILEO BY Rev. Cav. SAVERIO FERA SECRETARY OF THE ITALIAN EVANGELICAL CHURCH. TO THE FRIENDS OF THE EVANGELIZATION OF ITALY. Florence, 7, Via dei Benci (Italy), 10th July, 1897. Dear Christian Friends, In November 1896, when we'addressed to the friends of the Italian Evangelical Church our first letter on the Evangelical movement in Vais es ia ,w e p r o m i s e d s i m i 1 a r reports of the work in the Valsoana (Canavese), in the Lunigiana (Massa-Carrara), in the Puglie (South of Italy), and in Sicily. Those were at that time the principal points in the field of work of the Italian Evangelical Church which showed a re¬ markable awakening. We could never have supposed that the Lord would, instead, have raised up in a different place a movement so impor¬ tant that in the place of carrying out our promise, we should have taken this new field as the subject of our second letter. The place chosen by God has been Pisa / with its fine and smiling dias¬ pora from Pisa to Lucca. Pisa is that historical city, the rich and potent republic which was the friend and ally of Rome and the rival of Lucca, Florence and — 4 Genoa; once as much Queen of the Sea as Genoa and Venice; victo¬ rious over the Saracens, and the strong and constant partaker in the Crusades. But the episode which has rendered Pisa most famous is the piteous history to which Dante has dedicated an entire canto {Inf., Canto XXXIII), the Count Ugolino of sad fame, the betrayer of the Pisan republic, who was by the Ghibelline fury shut up with tw r o sons and two nephews, all condemned to starve to death in the Torre dei Gualandi, — henceforth known as the " Tow T er of Hunger,”—and the keys of it were thrown into the Arno by the Archbishop Ruggiero. — Pisa was also the native city of the immortal Galileo Galilei, the great astronomer who was put to the torture by the Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition. Among the vignettes of this letter we reproduce two of the most remarkable monuments of this classic city and which are connected with the life of the great martyr to science. N. 1 —is the celebrated "leaning tow T er of Pisa,” built, in 1174, entirely of marble, the cylindrical form of which rises in eight tiers of columns (in all 207) one over the other. This monument excites amazement and curiosity by its marvellous deviation of nearly 14 feet out of the perpendicular in a height of about 177 feet, so much so that one feels in passing beneath that it must fall on one's head. It was from the top of this tower that Galileo made his experiments on the laws of gravitation, laws which Newton afterwards generalized and which have explained the world. N. A?—is the lamp known as "Galileo’s lamp,” which is suspended from the roof of the Duomo. It was in attentively observing the swing of this lamp, which had been touched shortly before, that Ga¬ lileo noted the equality of the oscillations. Studying the reasons of this phenomenon he discovered the rhythmic value of the pendulum, the great discovery which has given to humanity that valuable instru¬ ment which in the hands of the watch-makers serves to mark time, in those of the astronomer is the balance that measures world, and in those of the doctor furnishes the means of marking the slightest dif¬ ference in the pulse and arteries. We are then in Pisa, a city full of worldwide and historical interest. The Italian Evangelical Church has also an important history in Pisa and in its evangelization. The missionary evangelical work in Pisa is not new. History records a numerous Protestant Italian Church which in 1543 celebrated the Holy Communion in Pisa. The Papal Inquisition suffocated that Church in blood, but the need of a religion according to the Gospel never faded from the heart of the Pisans. Even the bishops and priests felt a great need, at least, of a reform in Catholicism if nothing else, the proof of this is that / - 5 — for a century Jansenism was promoted and sustained by the clergy both high and low. In 1826, with the establishment of a foreign Protestant Church, a limited evangelization went on among those who visited the rich foreigners who came to Pisa for their health. But it was only in 1833 that an entirely Italian work was begun, when Signorina Matilde Co- landrini founded the Infant Asylum, and later the Instruction of Fathers of Families. Her house had become a temple of the Lord, for every evening many people joined in readingthe Holy Scriptures and praying to God. The work soon made pro¬ gress even in high social spheres, and a band of learned and liberal minds pronounced in favour of the Italian Evan¬ gelical movement; amongst these were some educated catholic priests and eminent persons. In 1843 Carlo Eynard esta¬ blished himself at Pisa and the evangelization developed so'much that by the follow¬ ing April he was able to hold the first assembly at Florence to promote the union of the Evangelical Churches in Tu¬ scany. The labours of Carlo Ey¬ nard were ably assisted by Montanelli, a law professor at the University of Pisa, in whose house meetings for worship were held; and by others, very zealous in diffusing the Scriptures, Martini's translation as well as that of Diodati. Ere long the professing prote- stants numbered about 100 and there were many adherents. The liberty of 1848-49 still further extended the evangelical work in Pisa, so that the restoration of the House of Lorraine and all its persecution failed to destroy it again. Many were the imprisoned and exiled, but the year 1859 soon came and it was allowed to preach the Gospel freely in Pisa. The ex-priest Gualtieri, then minister of the Italian Evangelical Church, preached with such success in Pisa that the largest rooms were always too small for the crowds who flocked to hear the Gospel. — 6 — Gualtieri had worthy and faithful successors in the evangelization of Pisa, among whom was the late Paolo Demichelis, who, by means of Miss Carruthers, was enabled to found in Pisa and other places very good elementary schools, which succeeded so well that the Mi¬ nister of Public Instruction gave Miss Carruthers a gold medal as recognition of her services in the instruction of the people. Signor P. Demichelis was a member and Secretary of our Committee, and President some Year of Our General Assembly. Through the efforts of that great friend of Italian Evangelization, the Rev. John Richardson Mac Dougall D.D., the Italian Evangelical Church possesses at N. 8, Via San Martino, Pisa (see Vignette 3 ), a N. 3. — The Italian Evangelical Church’s Buildings in Pisa — N. 8, Via San Martino. building suitable for the meetings. After the death of the lamented Demichelis, there were times of depression in the progress of the work in Pisa. Frequently, seeing the narrowness of the finances of our Committee, we have asked the Lord : What shall be done for Pisa? But during last September an energetic decision was taken, that of sending a young evangelist full of faith and enthusiasm, Signor Ago- stino Pierotti, that he might labour in Pisa, under the direction of the Pastor Rev. Y. Notarbartolo, of Leghorn. In a short time the Church and evangelization in Pisa again began to revive. Many have requested to join to the Church a good nucleus of University students have been attracted towards ita 7 monk, a certain Padre Gaetano della Vergine, has detached himself from the errors of the Roman Church and is converted to the Gospel; — and a worthy University Professor, several years ago become pro- testant, has now entirely joined our Church, of which he is an Elder and Preacher. This fact is especially noticeable, for it is believed that Prof. Vincenzo Colucci is the only University Professor who, having renounced Romanism, belongs to an Evangelical Church, in Italy. But it is in the neighbourhood of Pisa rather than in the city itself that the work has produced a most hopeful and interesting movement, a true evangelical revival. In evidence of this we may name four places : Ghezzano, Gisanello and San Michele clegli Scalzi on the right of the Arno, and San Marco alle Cappelle on the left (see Vignette 4). In less than a year in each of these localities a Church is in formation. I have recently often visited these centres of evangelization and am astonished and thankful to God, to see and testify to the un¬ expected progress He has granted to us. At Clsanello a numerous congregation, partly of women, regularly assembles in a room which we have hired, and, in spite of the current of anarchism which infests those parts, a nucleus always increasing bears witness to Jesus Christ and His Holy Gospel. Such is the hunger and thirst after truth that people come from Ghezzano and many other places and villages to join the meetings at Clsanello, which will soon be formed into a regular Church. At San Michele clegli Scalzi, as means are wanting to hire a room, there meet at the house of a brother a considerable group of persons who have for some time been converted, but they realize the draw¬ back of being so isolated. When I last visited them, with Signor Pie- rotti, there were such numbers of men, women and children, that the only place possible to hold the meeting was in the kitchen on the ground floor of our brother's house, a poor and simple workman who for many years has given a good testimony to the Gospel. Now, he, with our Evangelist, has been the instrument of gathering together all those who, after having received the truth, stood idle, and hence the seed seemed lost. When we arrived it was about half past nine in the evening and all those people had been expecting us for some time. I have assisted at a more edifying and affecting meeting. We spoke to them and prayed with those present until a late hour. The Spirit of God was evidently with us and we were all touched when we separated, each blessing the Lord with tears of consolation for showing the power and efficacy of His Word which never returns to Him empty. At San Marco alle Cappelle , on the left bank of the Arno, God has in a mervellous manner opened a great gate for the Gospel. If any — 8 — one is curious to know how the principles of the Salvation Army, adapted to the Italian character, can be forwarded by the aggressive evangelization of the Italian Evangelical Church, I would say: Come with me to San Marco alle Cappelle and you will see. It was Friday evening. I had scarcely finished preaching to a magnificent congregation in our Church at Pisa, when the carriage of 43 V 4o V. 4 . — Pisa and its environs. a poor but worthy brother, a cabman, swiftly took me and my brethren, Rev. Notarbartolo and Signor Pierotti, to San Marco alle Cappelle. At a certain point the carriage was obliged to slacken speed and then stop. It was about nine in the evening and a multitude of people were in the road expecting us. In a moment the two rooms of the house, where the meetings were held, were brimful. The smaller persons were even mounted on the top of wardrobes, on the furniture, — 9 — the window sills, and those who could not find room remained in the road. I confess that if any one had told me I could never have believed the things I saw that evening with my own eyes. By the power of the Holy Spirit my brethren Pierotti and Notarbartolo spoke of Christ and Christ crucified, of the Gospel and of the Salvation to that innumerable concourse of people, and after prayer we were going away when a group of anarchists came forward, opposing to Christ and the Gospel their motto: "Bread and work.” (Pane e la- voro). I cannot describe the animated and vigorous discussion we held that evening. I will only say that every one realized the dif¬ ference of tone in those poor deluded workmen when I showed them the true Liberty whereby Christ alone had made us free, and added that Christ alone gave us the privilege of a true brotherhood, and to obtain that privilege He had neither killed any one nor caused any one to be killed, but died Himself on the Cross, and shed His blood for our own, and my own sins and for those of His enemies. So He preached and gave the divine example of love. —That meeting w r as a real triumph of the cause of Christ and the Gospel, and awakened a perfect enthusiasm in many a conscience, which till then had been spiritually dead. But wTiat was the house in wdiich we met and where we hold the meetings till this day in spite of fierce persecutions and seductions and allurements of the Romish priests? It is the house of a poor widow! And who is this poor widow?—I will quote here what Si¬ gnor Notarbartolo says about Her: "A widow Vaselli, who is a moving spirit of this meeting, willingly continues the use of her house, and shows a fervent evangelical spirit in the midst of the trials of life. This woman last year lost her husband, still a young man, and was left with three small children. Shortly afterwards, the brother-in-law was seized with apoplexy and is now lying at the hospital. Not many days ago, her son of fourteen years, her only hope, has,been attacked by consumption, and yet she continues unmoved and zealous in the Lord's work, and amidst all these adversities manifests confidence and resignation to the Will of God. An exemple so rare has not failed to move the unbelievers, and to manifest the power of the Spirit of God.” Hitherto we were in a field which we have sown with diligence, and now the Lord begins to give us encouragement so evident as to foreshow a full harvest for His holy Kingdom. But I must now take you to Pontasserchio (Vignette 5), a fraction of the Baths of San Giuliano, between Pisa and Lucca, which may be reached by a diligence from Pisa or by rail stopping at Rigoli. It is there in a field almost new to us, to which w r e were provi- — 10 — dentially called that the ways of God are displayed admirable and adorable in all respects. The Bcigni cli San Giuliano are in a spot situated on the confines of the provinces of Pisa and Lucca at the foot of Monte San Giuliano : Per che i Pisan veder Lucca non ponno (. .. . the mountain which forbids the sight of Lucca to the Pisans), as Alighieri says (Inf., Canto XXXIII, v. 30). Their ancient Latin name ytfini t r*(. / i / v / i / i * N . 5 . — Bagni di S. Giuliano, Pontasserchio and their environs. was " Termae Pisanae ” ; the waters composed of lime and sulphur have a temperature varying between 88° and 110° Fahr. Pliny speaks of them as " Aquae calidae Pisanorum.” Pontasserchio is an important fraction of this city, and its name, meaning the " Bridge of the Serchio,” indicates the site of the place near a fine bridge which spans the river Serchio. This river is 11 — mentioned by Dante (Inf., Canto XXI, v. 49) when in the pit of boiling pitch in the fifth bolgia he condemns the usurers, saying: Qui si nuota altrimenti che nel Serchio. (One must swim here very different than in the Serchio.) And Shelley has dedicated to it one of his poems : " The Boat in the Serchio.” We give a view of this river (Vignette 6 ).—Garibaldi and Mazzini both liked the village and often stayed there, reviving in the spirits of the generous inhabitants the sentiments of true liberty and emanci¬ pation from the priestcraft of Rome, which sentiments they had first imbibed from the great contemporaneous, a learned man and poet, Giovan Battista iN'iccolini their fellow- townsman, well hnown amongst all the Evangelical people of Italy specially. The ashes of this great man rest in the Pantheon of Santa Croce in Florence, but his most valuable writing and works show that he may well be considered as one of the first to prepare the great work of Italian evangeliza¬ tion. He loved the pure religion of Jesus Christ, that which identify itself with brotherly love and which holds out a friendly hand to those who are trying to free themselves from a yoke unworthy of a true and human life, that he hated the Pharisees who travesty Christianity or corrupt it that it may serve their own base ends. The Arnalclo da Brescia , written by him, is the tragedy of liberty, the act of faith by which every oppressed people appeal to God, the symbol of Italy scourged by the Court of Rome and the Empire, and which ascends the scaffold with a firm faith in a future resurrection. The vigorous apostrophe against the Court of Rome which he puts in the mouth of Arnaldo of Brescia will always be remembered. It begins: Libertade e Dio, Yoci dair Oriente, Voci dall’ Occidente, Voci dai tuoi deserti, Yoci dall’ eco dei sepolcri aperti, Meretrice ti accusa. (Liberty and God, — Voices from the east, — Voices from the west, — Voices from thine deserts, — Voices from the echoes of the open tombs — Accuseth thee.). — 12 In Pontasserchio there only remained five members of the first work of evangelization there under the late Demichelis. One of the five, a poor shoemaker who, fiercely persecuted for his religion, and reduced to extreme misery and hunger, was obliged to almost hide himself while hoping for better days. The other four belonged to one family and they also had for many years to abstain from outward witnessing in account of the fierce persecution of the priests. There was, however, a little leaven. The Lord disposed that brother Giovanni Mazzetti, colporteur of the National Bible Society of Scothland, a member of our Church at Leghorn, whose brother is one of our most faithful and valiant Ministers, went to stay some days at Pontasserchio. His good witness for the truth gained the sympathy of the whole neighbourhood, so that a formal petition signed by more than 100 fathers of families was addressed to our Committee of Evangelization in the following style : " In the Name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, the undersigned ask of the Com¬ mittee of the Evangelical Italian Church to be instructed in the doctrines of the Gospel, and for this end ask a regular preaching, so as to enlighten them fully and lead them to the acceptance of Christ.” In this was initiated a movement capable to awake an entire mass of people, with whole families together, and with more than 200 children for whom they begged an Evangelical Church and the foundation of a school. In spite of his own well known extremely restricted means, our Committee decided to respond affirmatively to the petition, and our workers were sent to begin a vigorous and large evangelization. For want of a better place the first Evangelical meetings were held in a large stable which would hold about 500 people. The proprietor white¬ washed the stable and the peasants adorned it with Biblical texts, laurel wreaths and flowers. The multitude increased at every meeting, and crowded into that stable offering a spectacle impossible to describe. The Roman Catholic parish priest, at Pontasserchio, at first ridiculed the whole affair, and announced that within a month the heretics would have been driven out of the environs of Pontasserchio. His pro¬ phecies failed. The movement gained strength and extended through the other places and villages. At Vecchiano, Arena, Metato , Bagni, Limiti, Rigoli, Filettole, Ripafratta, etc., were heard the echoes of the word of God preached at Pontasserchio, and in all those villages groups were formed of adherents who all begged us to come and preach the Gospel also to them. The colporteur Mazzetti of the National Bible Society of Scotland having been removed, the colporteur Perugia of the British and Foreign Bible Society went to Pontasserchio and obtained a most encouraging — 13 - success, as we will show by some extracts from one of his interesting reports: " The consolations which I have this month received in fulfilling my duties have been abundant. I went to Pontasserchio, knowing there had been an evangelical revival, intending only to stay a few days as the Colporteur Signor Mazzetti had already explored the neigh¬ bourhood. But I stayed instead nearly a month, selling 3 Bibles, 41 New Testaments, 33 penny books and 418 half-penny ones containing por¬ tions of the Gospel. This sale is miraculous when one thinks of the poverty of those places and the sales recently made by others, besides the gratuitous distribution of religious pamphlets, made by the Evan¬ gelical Church of Italy. ” We might say then that for several miles round there is not a family that does not possess the Scriptures. We many besides note that these sales were not mere barter, but made with full knowledge of the cause, and the purchasers afterwards often desired some com¬ ment or explanation of biblical texts. ” Some interesting episode which deserves to be recorded happened at most of the sales. ” On my arrival at a peasants' house in the village of Arena, men, women and children left their work in the fields and meeting together in the house begged me to speak to them of God. At the end of the discourse all were moved to tears and every one bought the Scriptures. ” The same request was repeated in another house at Pontasser¬ chio ; the crowd was extraordinary. I read, spoke and explained and sold some books. At that moment the priest entered to give the Easter benediction on the house, but although he shook his head he dared not speak. Instead of shrinking from his notice the owners of the house encouraged me to remain at my post, and the priest having finished his ceremonies went away. After some days fearing that the word of God might have been destroyed at the instigation of the priest, I returned to the place, but to my great comfort the head of the house assured me the priest had failed in his intentions and that they still carefully kept the books I sold them. Passing by another house near Arena I was asked when an evangelical meeting would be held and replied: Next Saturday at 8 V 2 in Pontasserchio, but if they wished I could at once talk to them of God.” They consented, and for an hour I read and commented as well as I could some passages of Scripture. Such facts as these happened every day and my heart was full of comfort, blessing God who inspired me to go to a place where the seed of His word was growing so strong and vigorous. ” At Filettole I was selling a New Testament when the priest passed by, and the people invited him to stop and hear the Gospel, but without a word he w^ent on. — 14 ” In this place some persons were very impatient to acquire divine books. I then commenced the reading of some noteworthy passages, especially in St. John, and after that a woman bought a little penny book. As I went on reading she wanted a New Testament, and by the time I had finished she bought a whole Bible. This woman's example so moved the hearers that they wept tears of joy.” At this flaming up of the Evangelical movement, the priesthood began to agitate,—the parish priest saw that really his prophecy had failed,—and circulated pamphlets full of calumny against Protestantism. These books were thrown away.—The parish priest then officially, from the altar, pronounced excommunication. The people took no notice of it and many and many were amused or disgusted with it; on the contrary, they grew more attached to the Gospel and became even enthusiastic. Meanwhile means were lacking to sustain and increase this revival when our good friend, Mrs. Pinkett, of Naples, sent us a gift of eight pounds, and the Italian Evangelical Church of Florence collected about £ 0. 19. 6 for Pontasserchio. Encouraged by these gifts we hired premises adapted for Services and also useful for schools, trusting that the Lord would give us the increase. The room is in a central position in a beautiful square (Piazza Maz- zini) and is even in its architecture well adapted for the purpose (see Yignette 7), but it is already insufficient for our needs. Persons are left in the streets and have to climb up and peep in at the windows to take part in the services and sermons. A good, and pious English lady wished to visit the place with me and join once to the services. She was so astonished and enthusiastic that she confessed she had never in her life seen a sight so spiritually encouraging and edifying. To begin a subscription list, in the hopes of others following, she put her name—Anonymous X. Y.—down for four pounds monthly, for a whole year. Another has given £ 1. 8. 0 monthly for three months. With those subscriptions we have tried to spur on the work more energetically, associating the Rev. G. Grisanti and a lately con¬ verted priest with Brother Pierotti. We now intend to proceed forward, not only in Pontasserchio, where we have to found also a school, but in all the communes which head that magnificent evangelical movement, and the same not only in Pisa, but in all the suburbs around it, where new churches are in process of formation, and spread with new strength the great light of the Holy Gospel. We recommend to God this movement and all the work of the Italian Evangelical Church, and we address ourselves to you, dear Friends and Christian Brethren, and carrying you from Yalsesia to Sicily, from Canavese to Massa Carrara, from Yaltellina to Naples, — 15 - jv, 7. — The Italian Evangelical Church’s Premises IN PONTASSERCHIO. from Bassignana to Rome, from Puglie to Pisa and Pontasserchio, we show yon a revival worthy of your prayers and of all your hearts. Gold and silver are of the Lord, hut you are His ' good st6warts, and He will certainly avail Himself of you to encourage and help us in the good work, by which we show the hopeful progress of the Kingdom of God among souls hungry and thirsty for Christ and His Gospel in the country of Dante and Galileo. With the latter we say: look to Italy : ' Eppur si muove ” (" And yet it moves ! ”). With kindest regards, Yours very sincerely, Saverio Fera, _ v Secretary of the Evangelization Committee Lf of the Evangelical Church of Italy. |b ■*& - • m'p: . __ - is: te- Who is willing to have a copy of the Letter No.l:— u Good News from Valsesia 99 —may apply to the Rev. Dr. Mac Dougall or to the Rev. Cav. S. Fera. my- THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH OF ITALY. Summary of Statistics for 1896. One Yearly General Assembly, in Florence ( 12th October 1897), Ten Presbyteries, or Regional Conferences. 30 Leading Congregations. 13 Churches in formation. 55 Other Groups of Believers. 141 Other Places Visited. , _ _ , _ j Members and Catechumens. 2,268 *»«——• -i,72i V Adherents. 15,665 Population . 19,654 18 Ordained Ministers. 7 Colporteurs and Bible Women. 9 Evangelists. 87 Sunday School Teachers. 3 Professors in the Theological School. 40 Teachers in the Schools. 2 Cand. Th. • 31 Elders. 6 Students for the Ministry. 85 Deacons. Giving to the Lord collected amongst the Italian Church for the sup¬ port of the work: Fr. 9,193.85 to the Central Fund in 1896. » 25,620.10 for local expenses in 1896. Total Expenses from the General Fund for the support of the work in 1896, Fr. 151,759.10 = £ 6,070. Contributions for the Evangelical Church of Italy will be thankfully received by the following Gentlemen. Bridge of Allan London » Edinburgh Glasgow Belfast New York Florence (Italy) » » (during July, August and until 10th September) to Bev. Dr. John R. Mac Dougall, Union Bank. Messrs. Barclay and Co., 54, Lombard Street. Rev. George H. Giddins, Memorial Hall, Farringdon St., E. C., London. Messrs. Kinmont and Maxwell, W. S., 86, George St., Treasurers of Edinburgh Committee. William Martin, Esq., 341, St. Vincent St., Treasurer of Glasgow Committee. Samuel Mac Bride, Esq., Westbourne, Windsor Avenue. John J. Tower, Esq., 340, Clinton St., Brooklyn, Treasurer of American Committee. Rev. Dr. John R. Mac Dougall (from November at the end of June), Chiesa Scozzese, 11, Lung’Arno Guicciardini. Sig. Sebastiano V. Cecchi — c / 0 Messrs. Haskard and Son, Bankers, Palazzo Antinori, 3, Piazza Antinori. Rev. Cav. Saverio Fera, 7, Via de’ Benci.